A coffee lover and serious home aficionado came by the UTOPIAN roastery yesterday. We looked over our La Marzocco Linea, talked specialty coffee, & philosophized about espresso. As the discussion progressed, the gleam in his eye became more apparent.

We live in a society driven by instant gratification.  We--myself included--live beyond our means, eat less healthy than we should, & miss some beauty in life simply because we want things now.  I am guilty of this--especially when I have made an online purchase.  That's part of the reason we work so hard at Utopian Coffee Co. to get your orders out the door asap.  One of the million things I love about my work is that specialty coffee is increasingly the picture of delayed gratification.

As we, at UTOPIAN, work to build a holistically sustainable specialty coffee company, we regularly consider a number of stewardship issues: fair wages & safe working conditions for workers at origin, sustainable agricultural practices, environmentally friendly roasting/packaging/handling, etc. To date we haven’t made much noise about these things because to date we haven’t done anything truly remarkable or unique. Such themes guide our purchasing habits, the charities with which we partner, the packaging materials we use, etc. But there is so much more that can and should be done.

There are scores of Starbucks haters among the ranks of specialty coffee. In many cases I see where they are coming from; Starbucks has some issues. Among others, their coffee quality continues to diminish, it is over-roasted, & it sits too long from roast to brew. However, they also do many things brilliantly. Sometimes I wonder if the naysayers miss a growth opportunity as they hurl stones at the green giant. After all, the specialty coffee industry in the states is young, and—like it or not—Starbucks is largely responsible for the ubiquitous nature of it. They’ve done a world-class job of branding, diversifying their revenue stream, & employee retention. They’ve also become the benchmark for part-time employee benefits. Might we be better off if we were slower to demonize them, and a bit more willing to learn from their strengths and weaknesses? Realistically, if you’re doing high quality, holistically sustainable work in specialty coffee, you have nothing to fear from Starbucks. If yesterday’s rollout is any indication, you are likely targeting a different audience.

We have partnered with Run for Congo Women to donate $2 of every pound back to the people of this coffee’s motherland. Expect a super complex cup including tart cherries, oaky port, raisins and spice.

Click to learn more or purchase Kivu Katanda Congo.